A Canadian company at the forefront of data-driven cannabis technology is making big waves…internationally.
CB2 Insights (
C.CBII,
OTC:CBTOF,
Forum) has signed a
Letter of Intent (LOI) as the “exclusive research technology platform” for a national medical cannabis pilot project in the United Kingdom.
The partnership between Project TWENTY21 – the UK’s largest medical cannabis pilot project spearheaded by
Drug Science, an independent, science-driven UK charity whose mission is to bring leading drug experts together to conduct original research into the effects of drugs, harmful, or otherwise – and CB2 is a major coup for the small cap Canadian company and a sign that international markets are looking to leverage the experience of Canadian cannabis companies.
The Toronto-based company announced Thursday that it has been selected as the exclusive research technology platform for Project TWENTY21 – a new pilot project to assess the efficacy, safety, quality of life, and health outcomes for thousands of patients using cannabinoid therapies.
The aim of Project TWENTY21 is to enrol 20,000 patients into the pilot before the end of 2021, using a real word data patient registry to assess efficacy, safety, Quality Adjusted Life Years, and patient reported outcomes in those prescribed medical cannabis.
So, what does this all mean to CB2 Insights and its shareholders? First and foremost, it gives CB2 exclusive access to a pilot program that could mean access to a medical cannabis market of potentially tens of millions of patients. The current system of patient access to medical cannabis in the UK is fraught with bureaucratic red tape, can only be prescribed by specialist physicians, and cannot be imported until a prescription has been issued. These rules, coupled with division among doctors about how effective it is, means fewer than 100 patients are thought to have been prescribed it to-date. But it appears the tides are starting to shift.
Despite the country’s antiquated cannabis laws, in 2016, the UK was the largest exporter of legal cannabis, representing roughly
70 percent of the world’s total. But with
domestic medical use legalization finally put into effect in 2018, patients still find that accessing the treatment option is difficult. Physicians remain the gatekeepers to prescribing cannabis, and a lack of data and understanding of how to integrate the treatment effectively has been seen as a key barrier forcing patients to seek other non-regulated sources of medication.
Project TWENTY21 and their partnership with CB2 hopes to eventually help put an end to the UK’s draconian medical cannabis regulations.
CB2 Insights’ CEO Prad Sekar commented on cementing the exclusive and unique partnership deal:
“Having built the industry’s first cannabis-specific research platform and largest single patient registry with over 25 represented indications generated with insights from over 400,000 patient interactions across the US, we are thrilled to extend our expertise to the UK. The UK market has substantial potential for rapid advancement for medical cannabis adoption. Drug Science is the only organization bringing evidence-based understanding to the UK market, and this represents a tremendous opportunity for CB2 to expand our data pool and extract more real-world evidence. We look forward to contributing our expertise to the Drug Science working group.”
About CB2 Insights
CB2 Insights is a Toronto-based company that has a mission to mainstream medical cannabis into traditional healthcare. The company operates the largest multi-state group of cannabis clinics in the US and has developed proprietary technology to collect clinically-validated, uniform data sets at the point-of-care. Founded in 2014, the Company posted revenue of $11 million in 2018 and is forecasting revenue of $20 million in 2019. With 28 clinics serving 12 states, the CB2 has built the largest patient registry of those seeking medical cannabis as a treatment. That patient registry is the foundation for producing comprehensive, real-world evidence to the cannabis industry.
CB2 recently reported that Phase One of its Clinical Decision Support tool integration has been successfully completed via
Premier Health Group and its Electronic Medical Records platform, Juno, which provides access to its over 4,600 primary care physician and healthcare practitioner users. The platform is intended to guide clinicians through the evaluation process for medical cannabis treatment.
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FULL DISCLOSURE: This is a paid article produced by Stockhouse Publishing.